2015 MAXIMA RACING OILS CONONDALE CLASSIC 8th/9th August

[Momus]

I am only interested in the 500 Twinshock Challenge as I reckon for me it's a quick $1000, I'll leave the Evo,and the bear baiting, for the lesser mortals.

 

[Mod1]

A mere two month ago...............

As some of you know, I've been running the OzVMX forum for over 10 years. That's a long time and it has succeeded and grown far more than I ever imagined it would. Which is great. However, one aspect of the forum that has always consumed a lot of time, effort and careful judgement is moderation. When I began OzVMX, I had the view that as long as discussions didn't end up in the gutter, pretty much anything was open to debate and I felt that very robust discussion was fine.

Well, over the years this hasn't always worked. I've been threatened with litigation, had threats made against me, had to adjudicate all sorts of weird disputes and had many many phone calls, messages and emails about matters on the forum.

A couple of years ago when a few members became regularly abusive of others, I eventually had to apply stricter moderation, provide some guidelines to forum use, and ban a couple of people. This was in response to a torrent of complaint and dissatisfaction from many members. We even lost a few of the stalwarts of the forum over this.

In recent times, the debates about vintage racing rules, administration by MA etc and endless discussions about class structures and so on have become a rather prominent feature of the forum. My time and effort to manage the forum has been growing substantially and I am seeing a similar sentiment being expressed about the general tone of the place.

These days, I am no longer an active VMX competitor. I still enjoy the old bikes, like to hear and read about vintage, and I still have a couple of 1980 models in the back shed. But, my real passion for now is modern dirt track racing. I just don't have the time or desire to put a lot into OzVMX.

And to be honest, I'm a bit over it.

Now, the ongoing saga of rules and MA and so on has sapped my desire to continue. So, I've spent the past couple of days considering next steps. My inclination was to close it down. After all, Facebook does a great job of doing the same sort of thing. I know a lot of people still enjoy the forum, but many have told me that its negativity, the infighting, and the arguments about eligibility annoy them.

I can see where they are coming from.

So....  Have we reached the end of the line for OzVMX? No, I don't think so, I think it still has a place and I still have enough enthusiasm to try reinvent it to an extent. I have decided to keep the thing open for the near future at least. I'm gonna take it back to its roots. When I started the forum, it was meant to fill the gap left by the loss of Ray Ryan and VMX Magazine. His philosophy was simple - Same Old Dirt, Same Old Fun. Today, Ken Smith and crew run VMX Magazine true to that philosophy. And I think that's what we need to take the forum back to.

Now, I agree that many of the concerns and contentious issues that have been raised are valid and deserving of discussion and resolution and so on. But from here on in, you'll have to find somewhere else to do that. I'm not doing this to run away from the problems or to fold to pressure from MA or anything like that. It's just to firstly make my job of keeping things on track easier and more pleasant, and secondly to make the forum a place of positive energy.

From here on in, the forum is meant to be above all, fun. And in the course of that, informative, inclusive, positive, supportive and generally uplifting. Get where I am coming from?

So please, no more comments or posts about MA, eligibility (other than to ask for guidance), rules, or personal sledging of any person or club or organisation.

I will moderate with a heavy hand, and believe me if it becomes too hard to do that, I will close it down. Not a threat - just a fact of life. I don't need the stress of it all.

So over to you all, enjoy OzVMX but please, keep it civil and keep it fun. Oh, and I will be deleting the Administration of Competition board - that sort of discussion is what I want to avoid from now on.

[Graeme M]

C'mon guys, stick to the topic, keep it positive, and the thread will live on.

[foxy999]

[/quote]

[worms]

even bad advertising is good for any event, so long as it's civil.

if the club pulls this off it will be a hard bench mark to follow,

 my only concern is for the grass roots racers being left behind in a the bigger picture, with them bearing the brunt of costs, are the stars paying riders as well, because very few actually contribute to the overall picture of VMX. they should all be treated as equal competitors, because there would be no event without the majority, which are average punters living the dream.
for me, I would rather just see all turn-up and race without any showcasing, mates racing mates.

just don't let it become a wank fest.

cheers Trev

[Ted]

Funny how attempting to put Aussie VMX on the world stage can be interpreted as a wank fest. I have never heard Fairleigh Castle called that

[JohnnyO]

You can't compare Farleigh Castle to any event in Australian vmx and never will. We don't have the volume of riders, spectators or available stars.
To think that it can be replicated is ridiculous, from what I've seen in the last 3 years the entry numbers at Conondale are shrinking as the costs go up and the number if laps becomes less for the average punter to accommodate the stars attending the event...

[worms]

ok Ted, good point, but you can still have the biggest and best event without all the glorification and comparisons to anything else, all that matters is to continue the tradition and make it a good event for all punters. it would be great to hear about the guy who's doing a 4000klm round trip to ride the event, it would be great to hear about the volunteer who's always watering the track, the people who run the clubs, the guys who stay at the end of an event to pack up, these are the people making the sport, not the trophy hunters.

The prize money is a wank fest, just my opinion.

 I'm sure the event, as always will be great, but who makes it great?

so a good conversation about any event is healthy, it's promotes  as well as being beneficial for future events.

cheers Trev

[JohnnyO]

It concerns me how rider numbers are dropping at the bigger events Australia wide as promoters forget to cater for the average punter that makes up the numbers and puts money in the clubs pocket year round..

[scottm]

 I dont know why everyone cant see the forest for the trees , The Conondale Classic is a showcase of vintage motocross , as such you could be average Joe and ride with your mates or be a  pro and race at the front, who cares , get to the meeting , ride , have a few laughs , a beer , whatever , if theres 100 plus  riders its one of your sports largest events , prize moneys an attraction to lure more riders to the event , its not the be all and end all, why dont you leave the keyboard alone re ; negativity , and enjoy what you have right now , because  what Ive seen the sports shrinking , and any effort to build it has got to be a positive.
The sport needs an injection ,  this is one way to pump it up.

Write what you like after this post , I dont care , but everyone will read it and see just who is in the sport of vmx and wants to keep it moving forward,  and who is negative , you be the judges

Scottm

[EML]

IMHO the lack of or dwindling of numbers at all events is a sign of the times.
Business is bloody tough at the moment and I don't know anyone that's rolling in dough.
A few years back when we had better times, numbers were up and no-one really cared about club fees or entries being expensive.
Things will roll around, the internet will fail and we'll all be back to servicing customers as we should...and make some spare cash for racing on Sundays.
So, stop the back biting and embrace what is our show piece, for next year it might just be a round of Mr VMX, our new national VMX series.
 

[worms]

great to see your passion Scott, nothing negitive from me seeing Im one of visionaries who made the conondale classic the showcase it is, rose it from the ash's as one would say, ran the event for 6 years with the help of many others. the big names will still come and race because it's Conondale, no prize money required.
the true fundamentels of racing mates gets a bit twisted when someone sticks money on the table, attitudes change.

cheers Trev

now if someone said,  all winnings are being donated to Lukemia foundation or canteen for kids, then their on to something, just a thought

[kim80y]

Well the below average punters like me will be hoping the "stars" fall off and DNF so we/I can have bragging rights and say I beat the likes of Bell, Ballard, Kings and even a few queens...LOL
Or I could hang about, and try and keep up from the last turn and pretend I come second!!!

Either way will be alot of fun I'm sure.
Looking forward to having a yarn with ya Trev.

Cheers
Kim

[Ted]

great to see your passion Scott, nothing negitive from me seeing Im one of visionaries who made the conondale classic the showcase it is, rose it from the ash's as one would say, ran the event for 6 years with the help of many others. the big names will still come and race because it's Conondale, no prize money required.
the true fundamentels of racing mates gets a bit twisted when someone sticks money on the table, attitudes change.

cheers Trev

now if someone said,  all winnings are being donated to Lukemia foundation or canteen for kids, then their on to something, just a thought

What's the difference between money on the table or a trophy? How does prize money change ones attitude?

[worms]

the average punter, 95% or higher of the field, is there to race mates, drink beer, and have a good time.

Prize money adds another couple of elements, Eligibility Scrutineering of machines,
 $70 to raise a protest of machine when there's $1500 on the line, and no-ones going to do that, because it's mates racing mates "right",
 bikes being stripped to check for performance enhancing parts, no one would do that, would they?
what do we call fair racing now," get out my way you old gumby, I'm here to win my $1500" that wont happen, because it's mates racing mate's.
I know, we will get a heap of young blokes to race our bikes for us in these races, wow look at them go.

The Conondale Classic is a benchmark event, and as for me, I just want to make sure the "EVENT" is the main part of the competition and not the other way round.
I know I'm wrong Ted, so I wont promote a punters point of view anymore.

THE EVENT WILL BE A SUCCESS, AS ALWAYS, AND THANKS TO THOSE RUNNING IT.

cheers Trev